“Marginalization” by Chandrakant Mallya

In a scale, both arms are equally important. If one of them tilts, the result is imbalance. Compare the scale to the society. A perfect society viewed from any angle, is impossibility. Turn the pages of human history—perfection was never there. It is reasonable to assume that it will never be there!   It can not be completely avoided either. Society at any given time has not existed and functioned without marginalization! Some of the definitions of marginalization are: â€Å"To relegate or confine to a lower or outer limit or edge, as of social standing.† â€Å"Marginalization (USA) refers to the overt or covert trends within societies whereby those perceived as lacking desirable traits or deviating from the group norms tend to be excluded by wider society and ostracized as undesirables.† Wing Leung describes A marginal person as â€Å"†¦one who does not belong†¦the marginal man†¦ [dwells] at the margin of two cultures and two societies†¦ [and possesses] a marginal mentality†¦ [with its] unresolved identity crises.† Louis Wirth speaking of minority groups thus: â€Å"A group of people who, because of their physical or cultural characteristics, are singled out from the others in the society in which they live for differential and unequal treatment and who therefore regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination.† This means, the more numerically dominant members, or the more prosperous section of the society gives unequal treatment leading to acts of social ostracism, acts of discrimination, leading to marginalization. In â€Å"Sula† Tony Morrison traces the lives of two black heroines. They grow together in a small Ohio town—well, that’s the only common point about them. Otherwise, they are poles apart. Their paths are totally divergent, obviously their thinking as well! Nel Wright chooses the normal life of a black woman marries and settles in the place of her birth. She is part of the tightly-knit black community. Sula Peace rejects this option outright. She escapes to a city, joins a college, and when she returns to her roots, she is a rebel. She decides to teach a lesson to the society that humiliated her in childhood. She mocks at the social norms, and she is a wanton sexual seductress. Her vicarious pleasure is depicted in her triumphant return to her village and she is extremely happy about the victory she scored by crossing the hurdles that she faced in her life due to the color of her skin. These two characters ably depict, with utmost sincerity to their own emotions, their suffering and enjoyment   in the light of various trials and tribulations that was part of their life and living. The Civil War in USA led to the physical liberation. The War for economic liberation began thereafter. In Sula Toni Morrison provides us with the real history lesson with the depiction of the black way of life, a society which still continues to be marginalized both from social and economic standpoints. â€Å"Through their girlhood years they share everything — perceptions, judgments, yearnings, secrets, even crime — until Sula gets out, out of the Bottom, the hilltop neighborhood where beneath the sporting life of the men hanging around the place in head rags and soft felt hares there hides a fierce resentment at failed crops, lost jobs, thieving insurance men, bug-ridden flour . . . at the invisible line that cannot be overstepped.†Ã‚   (Morison, 1973) Fences is the story of four generations of black Americans.   The torch of legacy of morals, attitudes, mores and patterns passes through stories. Troy Maxon is the principle character of the play. Being a black, the part of the marginalized society of America, how and why he had to scale down his dreams to adjust inside his run-down yard. The opening scene   Ã‚  begins with Troy Maxon and his trusted friend Jim Bono engaged in drinking and talking. The anguish of marginalization related victimization is evident, when he makes a formal compliant to his bosses, why only white men are permitted to drive garbage trucks for the waste disposal company. The deep impact of marginalization in Troy Maxon’s psyche is shown as he counsels his teenage son Cory Maxon when he is being actively recruited for a college football scholarship. His father discourages him, and tells him not to ignore other important responsibilities. Troy wants that his son should never haul garbage like him. Cory represents all the possibilities his father never had and the unmet dreams. Yet the father is unwilling to let the son go on the path chosen by him to improve his lot in life.   His apprehension is that the white-dominated sports will not let Cory progress, and break his heart. Troy had spent fifteen years in jail for robbery and murder, but he became an accomplished baseball player in the jail. After the release, when he could not get proper opportunities to display his skill, he is bitter and resentful at the chances lost because of the color of his skin. He wants to protect his son from facing such disappointments and turn cynical. It was due to marginalization that Troy’s life was full of difficulties, oppression coupled with bad luck. As a boy, due the abject poverty, he was denied education, he cannot even read. Marginalization is practiced all over the world, and it embraces humanity. In the Developed World, racial and ethnic minority groups stand out as the most marginalized. Then there are other classes like, the poor, the sick, the disabled, the obese, teenage unwed mothers, the elderly, the homosexuals and lesbians. These groups suffer from one form of marginalization or the other-unemployment, poverty, poor health facilities and lack of education and the like. How can we strive to end it? The question should be rather how we can mend it? The ending to marginalization can only be through mending the ways of the society. First of all, the affluent and the socially well placed members of the majority community should realize the grave injustice rendered to the affected society for centuries. Genuine repentance and willing acceptance to reform can only change the social structure. The change with-out can be achieved only through the change with-in. Society must have a will to change, and that is possible by the combined efforts of the government, social and spiritual organizations. It is high time that marginalization is given a ‘decent’ burial. References: Morrison, Toni, Sula: Excerpted from the book jacket: †¦ â€Å"In clear, dark, resonant language   †¦ .members.tripod.com/~bibliomania/archive3/morrison5.html – 9k –Retrieved on May 21, 2007.                                                                                                

Dante Alighieri’s Inferno Paper Essay

Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieri’s 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. Inferno is an allegory telling of the journey of Dante through Hell, guided by the Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Hell is described as nine circles of suffering located within the Earth. Allegorically, the Divine Comedy represents the journey of the soul towards God, with the Inferno describing the recognition and rejection of sin. Because Dante is an educated Christian, he uses mythological references to make Hell visually appealing. Dante is guided By Virgil because he believes Virgil represents human reason, something very important to Dante. The two poets begin their journey to Purgatory by descending into the first circle of Hell. The first circle of the nine is Limbo. Limbo is â€Å"a region on the edge of hell for those who are not saved even though they did not sin† (University of Texas). In Limbo, there is a castle with seven gates which symbolize the seven virtues (historylis ts.org). This castle houses the great poets Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan; it also houses great philosophers such as Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Heraclitus, Orpheus, and Euclid. Dante uses the allusion of Aristotle as â€Å"[a] man with honor and respect† (http://apliterature-sasd.wikispaces.com). The second circle is known as Lust. Lust consists of the â€Å"people who were overcome by lust† (University of Texas). The souls in Lust â€Å"are punished by being blown violently back and forth by strong winds, preventing them to find peace and rest† (historylists.org). The strong winds symbolize the restlessness of a person who is led by desire for another person. Dante comes across a couple, Francesca and Paolo, who were murdered because they were practicing adultery. Lust is guarded by the mythological creature Minos. Minos’ tail determines which level each and every soul belongs. Once a soul has told Minos why they are in Hell, his tail coils around his body and e ach coil represents a circle in Hell. Dante uses Minos as the â€Å"king of sinners† because Minos himself was surrounded by sinner during his lifetime. The Third circle is known as Gluttony. Gluttony is where the Gluttonous sinners suffer under a cold and filthy rain. Gluttony is guarded by Cerberus, the three-headed dog. Dante â€Å"adapts him to be more monstrous by his large size and ravenous bite, an apt symbol for gluttony† (foxtwin.com). Dante uses particular names for particular people in each circle. A prime example of this would be when Dante and Virgil come across Ciacco the most gluttonous  man. He warns Dante that their hometown, Florence, will be destroyed. The fourth circle, avarice and prodigality, is known for housing those who lust for material needs and those who keep their wealth all for themselves. The punishment for this circle is to carry around large boulders and bump against each other. â€Å"The boulder represents money and the weight of the boulder represents its weight in their lives† (University of Texas). Here, Virgil and Dante come across Plutus, the God of Wealth. Dante uses Plutus to symbolize â€Å"those that squander and gather money† (foxtwin.com). The two Poets also come across Dame Fortune, the spinner of the world. As a result of her spinning wheel, things turn from good to bad. Dante uses Dame Fortune to represent chance in a human’s life. The fifth circle represents Wrath and Sullenness. â€Å"Wrath is anger that is expressed and Sullenness is and that is repressed† (University of Texas). Dante and Virgil are transported across the Styx by Phlegyas,† the infernal employee†. Phlegyas is in Hell because he set fire to the temple of Apollo. The sixth circle represents Heresy. In Heresy, the heretics lie in tombs made of iron and engulfed in flames. While in Heresy, the Poets are temporarily halted and must wait for the help from Heaven. While waiting for help, Infernal Furies taunt and curse them. The seventh circle, Violence, is divided into three kinds of violence. The first is violence against neighbor s on the bloody River Phlegethon. The river is not made of water, but of blood. Here, Virgil and Dante come across the Centaurs, the half-man and half-horse creature. The poets also come across the Minotaur. The Minotaur occasionally eats seven young men and women, in which Dante uses to symbolize violence. The second violence is against self in the Woods of Self. â€Å"The souls of those who destroyed their bodies or their substance are here to be made into thorny trees† (foxtwin.com). Since the souls destroyed their own bodies, they were denied any resemblance to a body in Hell. The leaves of these trees were painfully eaten by the Harpies. The third violence is against God, Art, and Nature on the burning sand. The eighth circle consists of the fraudulent sinners. This circle is shaped similar to an arena with â€Å"ten concentric ditches where the sinners are tortured† (foxtwin.com). Each ditch is composed with different types of fraudulent sinners: the Panderers, the Flatterers, the Simoniacs, the Fortune Tellers, the Grafters, the Hypocrites, Thieves, and Deceivers. In circle eight, the Poets meet the complex monster Geryon. Geryon would lure  in his victims and then devour them, allowing Dante to use him as fraud. Dante also uses Pope Nicholas II as a symbol as fraud. The final circle is known as The Treacherous or Cocytus. Cocytus â€Å"is the coldest place in Hell† (University of Texas). This circle consists of four smaller circles: Caina, Antenora, Ptolomea, and Judecca. Dante uses three unnamed giants to symbolize â€Å"pride and other spiritual flaws lying behind acts of treachery† (University of Texas). Dante, in his work Inferno, uses several historical and mythological figures to show his Christian devotion and Greek mythological knowledge. He also used these figures to make the poem a better read and to make modern connections of the t ime.

Financing Decisions and Market Efficiency Essay

Financing Decisions and Market Efficiency - Essay Example It is therefore important that a company must be innovative and highly efficient in managing its long term and short term financial perspectives in a manner that promotes confidence in its investors and customers. The fast changing technological innovations have facilitated a wide scope of linking elements of finance and market derivatives that have considerable influence on each other. Very often, the market driven compulsions, affect the financial outcome of the corporate bodies, making them financially vulnerable to market forces. Hence, the companies that are listed on the stock exchanges and have definite ratings by the various well respected investors’ services must ensure that they have good feedback and accordingly formulate strategy to maintain good market position. Moody’s investors’ service is one of the world’s most trusted and utilized services that provides the investors with the protection of integrity of credit vis-Ã  -vis the companies that it rates according to their financial and performance based fundamental strengths. It core business activities include credit rating, research and analysis providing a transparent system of market evaluation and upgrading the level of assessment of stocks with information based values. The most important aspect of Moody’s credit ratings is that it help the investors to analyse the credit risks for the securities and stocks of the company. Hence once a company gets a credit rating from the Moody, its credibility is established in the market. The higher the credit listing, the better the chances are for the company to maintain a low interest cost and high stake in credit-debt ratio. Moody’s approach to credit ratings, are based on the perspectives over a long period of time, within which the company would be not only be able to survive and succeed but also be able to meet its credit obligations. Therefore, it

Coursework. Immunoprecipitation Technique Coursework

. Immunoprecipitation Technique - Coursework Example The basic idea behind this technique is the separation of one single protein from a mixture of proteins. This could give us the idea of several characters of a protein such as its relative occurrence in a solution, it’s up and down regulation as well as its affinity for a specific antibody. Technique/Methodology Usually the process of immunoprecipitation can be completed in two ways: in sequential or in one step. Commonly the antibody on which the required protein is supposed to be attached is immobilized on a solid support such as beads. This solution containing the immobilized antibody and the beaded support is then incubated with the solution that contains the protein mixture containing the required protein. Incubation allows the specific protein to bind to then antigen and form a complex. This complex can then be separated from the solution and studied with different techniques such as ELISA or Western Blot according to the requirements. (Pierce Biotechnology 2011) (Pierce Biotechnology 2011) The diagrams courtesy of ‘Pierce Biotechnology’ show the process of immunoprecipitation starting from preparation of a solid support along with the antigen to the incubation and the formation of the antigen-protein complexes till the precipitation of the required protein. Types There main types of immunoprecipitation are: 1. ... pitation: Same as Chromatin only difference lies in the detection of RNA binding proteins Uses Immunoprecipitation has been useful in many aspects such as, It has enabled the scientists to know the activation of the proteins, their molecular weight and also separate some protein binding molecules too. This technique has also been helpful in detecting the abundance and activity of a protein. Protocols After collecting the required number of cells and washing them in ice cold PBS, the solution was spinned at 1000g at a temperature of 4 degrees. This would help in separating the supernatant fluid. The next step involves the resuspension of the pellet that contains the cells in an ice cold buffer after which the cells are lysed by centrifuge. The supernatant fluid is removed after spinning it again at 13000g at the same temperature for fifteen minutes. Bradford assay is then used to measure the quantity of the protein after the supernatant fluid is removed by spinning briefly. This super natant free solution is then incubated in a cold room with the required amount of specific antibody solution. After the addition of Protein A or G beads to the tube it is again incubated for an hour and then spinned briefly again so that further supernatant is removed. This beaded fraction is then washed with ice cold buffer and spinned to remove the supernatant and the resultant solution is kept for further analysis. BCL-2 Proteins Bcl 2 family proteins have been identified to play a major role in the process of cell death i.e. apoptosis. These proteins play both anti and pro apoptotic roles. Some members of the family are supposed to increase while some are supposed to decrease this process of apoptosis. In this project the interaction of Bcl 2 family proteins with PUMA have been

Walmart lawsuite versus TABC Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Walmart lawsuite versus TABC - Article Example They want the violation to end to enjoy their rights. Wal-Mart says that Texas is irrationally banning them from selling hard liquor like they do in other states. The company argues this is so only because it is a publicly traded company. TABC says even if Wal-Mart could sell hard liquor in the state, the law only entitles it to do so in only five of its stores (Kieler 10). Owners of stores that pool permits together with their family members, however, have no limit to the number of permits. Wal-Mart argues that the law creates arbitrary distinctions that are used to separate classes of retailers that have no rational difference in their selling or purpose for selling the commodity. Wal-Mart Company would also like to sell distilled spirits at its stores and Sam’s Club located in Texas for persons who want off-premises consumption (Kieler 6). The lawsuit states that the Texas law forbids public traded companies from owning a permit that one needs to sell alcohol. It is the package store permit. The public corporation class of retailers gets denied the opportunity to compete in the hard liquor department. The other class of retailers i.e. publicly traded hotel corporations and private corporations can compete without having the restrictions they are getting. There is no other state in America that permits private corporations to sell hard liquor (Kieler 8). Some of the publicly traded corporation but not all of them have a prohibition on retail sale of spirits. There is also another issue of limiting the number of stores and outlets that should sell the liquor. Wal-Mart in their lawsuit takes up this as another issue. The company states in its lawsuit that TABC is unfair in letting other companies own the permit. Several small companies that are family owned to take advantage of the loophole that allows close family members have access to

Employee Retention in UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Employee Retention in UK - Essay Example Organizationally committed employees will usually have good attendance records, demonstrate a willing adherence to company policies, and have lower turnover rates. In particular, their broader base of job knowledge often translates into loyal customers and even pay premium price. Employee retention is an issue since the turnover levels from various industries are rising. Statistics show different percentages related to turnover rates as well as the reasons for the increasing turnover. "Turnover levels vary very considerably from industry to industry. The highest levels of turnover (22.6%) are found in private sector organisations. Successive surveys of labour turnover show that the highest levelsare found in retailing, hotels, cateringand leisure,and among other lower paid private sector services groups. The public sector has an average turnover rate of 13.7%." (Stone, 2007) Almost a quarterof employees in the UK have been in their current jobs forfive years.As a proportion of aggregate turnover, the percentage of people leaving organisations through redundancy remains small. There was a slight decreasefrom 28% to 24%of organisations making more than ten people redundant during 2006 and in those operating a recruitment freeze from 24% to 22%in the course of the year. The cost of high staff turnover can be substantial. ... irect financial costs of replacing staff but also other repercussions such as the potential loss of key skills, knowledge and experience, disruption to operations and the negative effect on workforce morale. In addition, high turnover represents a considerable burden both on HR and line managers as they are constantly recruiting and training new staff. When seeking to resolve the problems associated with high turnover, companies must first investigate the underlying causes. They need to have in mind an appropriate level of attrition by benchmarking against similar organisations and taking into account the real costs of turnover to the company. Different theories of employee retention People are vital components for the effective operation of the organisation; as a matter of fact, managers often say that people are their most important assets. The human assets are never shown on the balance sheets as a distinct category, although a big amount of money is invested in the recruitment, selection, training of personnel. Rensis Likert suggested maintaining accounts of the valuable human assets through human resource accounting. The importance of the employees cannot be over emphasized because it can determine the success or failure of the organisation. Make-You-Happy Action Teams (MAT) plays a critical role in managing employee retention. This is Z-Theory management. To briefly sate, Z-Theory management means everyone that is effected by a decision for the company gets a "say" or a "vote" in the decision (tons more on Z-Theory Management in another article). This means employees are directly involved in decision making that affects them. When then make decisions that directly affect them, they stay around longer. This theory can help in managing employee retention due

Personal achievement or talent essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Personal achievement or talent - Essay Example The most important effect of these values is good leadership, the core foundation of scouting, which has given me the knowledge and ability to lead my peers. Leadership is not just about telling people what to do, but about guiding teammates with positive attitudes, regardless of whether the situation is a sporting game or everyday life. I have already applied these leadership skills within my high school baseball teams and when working summer jobs. The importance of leadership and teamwork were impressed on my from the beginning of my scouting days. Through hard work and dedication to my troop, I became one of the youngest Patrol leaders at age thirteen. This position came with many responsibilities. I experienced having to provide meals for an entire patrol and their dads at the monthly campouts. The tricky part about cooking in the wilderness is you do not have the same equipment you may find in a kitchen. Additionally, no processed meals are allowed at the campouts; everything is made from scratch. The entire meal is a process, from finding firewood to preparing the uncooked food. In other words, cooking is a group endeavor. As patrol leader, I assigned younger and older scouts to do the various tasks, and ensured everyone worked together. I had to learn quickly how to lead, or my patrol would have failed and broken down. In 2009, I became an Assistant Scoutmaster, the last position a Scout must hold before he can transition from a Life Scout to an Eagle Scout. In this position, my leadership duties grew. Instead of just one small patrol, I was put in charge of approximately two hundred people at a summer camp. I had to oversee various activities, not just cooking, and make sure everybody got along. One of the other great things Scouts taught me is the necessity and beauty of diversity. In this large number of people, there were boys of many different races and with many different religions. Learning how

Information System Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Information System - Research Paper Example This means that there ought to be coordination between different systems in an organisation whereby they are designed towards the attainment of the organisational goals set. b) Information systems are the means by which people and organisations, utilising technologies, gather, process, store, use and disseminate information (Haag, Cummings & Dawkins 2000). Indeed, business use of Internet, Intranets and Extranets has changed what businesspeople expect from Information Systems in their jobs. Basically, information processing has been made much easier through the use of internet, intranets as well as extranets. These make the link between different people more close and convenient for any business. If carefully implemented, the benefits of information systems are tremendous and overwhelming. Some of the benefits include the following: operating using networked computers is efficient, information can be processed at higher speed and paperwork is reduced and there would be likely chances of customer satisfaction since efficiency would be increased. 2. The phenomenal growth of the new information and communication technology particularly the internet has revolutionized the ways people conduct business during the contemporary period and businesses should engage in electronic commerce on the internet. E-commerce is primarily concerned with exchange of electronic information between parties normally followed by the exchange of goods and payment transactions. Essentially, the role of business is to serve its customers profitably and perfect service is only possible if a business has the right information in the hands of the right people at the right time of which this can only be attainable through the appropriate use of information technology. Thus, the internet plays a big role here. The internet is basically a network of networked computers all over the world (Haag, Cummings & Dawkins

Costa Coffee Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Costa Coffee - Essay Example This is to ensure it will acquire brand recognition as a true global brand like giant Starbucks but at the same time maintain its brand essence in a highly-competitive premium coffee market that no longer relies on price or differentiation as key success factors. Key industry drivers like the 4 Ms are briefly mentioned in relation to the coffee industry. Management theories and models like the Boston Consulting Group’s market matrix, Gap-needs Analysis and Ansoff’s product-market model are utilized to illustrate some of the key concepts in strategy analysis and formulation. Based on the last model by Ansoff, market development, product development and increased market penetration were thought to be viable alternatives. However, a closer analysis would reveal a branding strategy is the most suitable for a brand like Costa Coffee that is situated in a mature market dominated by only a few big players. This is because a brand is not only a functional concept but also an em otional one with regards to coffee drinkers, who not just drink it but to experience the ambiance as a symbol of affluence, social identity and new lifestyle patterns (Elliott & Percy, 2007:25). There are three coffee house chains competing for preeminence in London and all over the United Kingdom and these are Starbucks, Caffà © Nero and Costa Coffee. There is a smaller Coffee Republic and there are other coffee houses which are not part of a franchise (Edward, Cortinovis, Eggleton, Lee & Hermitage, 2007:110). After several years of very fast growth, the so-called premium coffee market is now in its mature stages. This means new sources of revenue growth has to be found before market share stagnates. A company has to be proactive rather than reactive and there are three possible sources of growth assuming it is alert enough: new opportunities presented by the changing external environment, develop a new strategy by monitoring emerging trends and how

Evidence, Proof and argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Evidence, Proof and argument - Essay Example As the jury, it is your duty to decide fairly, dispassionately and impartially based on the evidence presented by the prosecution4 since the burden of proving the guilt of defendant Duncan lies with the prosecution5 and owing to this stringent requirement, its case must stand and fall on its own merits. The prosecution cannot assert that the evidence for the defence is weak. Any claim therefore by the prosecution that this defendant has not established a valid defence should not be entertained. I would like to emphasize that the duty to prove the guilt of this defendant is the sole responsibility of the prosecution6. This defendant need not do anything since the law presumes his innocence until proven otherwise. However, Members of the jury, I would likewise caution you that the proof required of the prosecution is not absolute certainty that this defendant has committed the grievous act he is accused of. The prosecution is simply required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt(fn-case) that this defendant is guilty. Judgment beyond a reasonable doubt simply requires moral certainty that this defendant committed the offence charged. ... With that as a backdrop, let us proceed with the task at hand. This defendant is indicted for the murder of Simon Chapman by allegedly plunging the knife into the victim’s heart with intent to hurt and cause him serious harm. The death of Simon Chapman allegedly resulted from the acts of this defendant who was then 15 years old. Allow me, Members of the Jury to walk you through the undisputed facts—the decedent, Simon Chapman and his friend Christopher Jones (Jones) were sitting in a coach aboard a train late at night when two boys, defendant Duncan Moore and David Parker (David) were smoking and running about the train passing from one carriage to another. Christopher Jones chided the boys for smoking and to which they replied to â€Å"fuck off†. At this point, David—the younger of the two—decided to pester Jones by grabbing his briefcase. A commotion ensued where Jones pushed David who retaliated with a punch landing on the Jones’ face. As Jones was about to hit David again, Duncan intervened. The ruckus is now between Jones and Duncan. They were throwing punches at each other when decedent Chapman arose from his sleep and seeing that Jones was being hit by Duncan, he, in turn, struck Duncan with his umbrella. Duncan fell on his back and decedent Chapman straddled him, the two went on throwing punches against each other when the fracas stopped. Decedent Chapman was stabbed with the use of a kitchen knife. Thereafter, two boys alighted on the next train stop. Based on this undisputed facts, you shall decide if this defendant stabbed the victim or is there a probability that somebody else on that train who could be the culprit. Before we move on to the evidence presented by either side, it is important that I discuss the

Conflict Resolution Essay Example for Free

Conflict Resolution Essay Merriam-Webster (n.d) defines conflict as, â€Å"the opposition of persons or forces that gives rise to the dramatic action in a drama or fiction†. Interpersonal conflicts, whether they are between family members, students and teachers, employees and supervisors, or groups, have certain elements in common. Coser (1967) asserts that conflict is a struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power, and resources, in which the aims of the opponents are to neutralize, injure, or eliminate the rivals. (p. 8) Coser’s definition grew out of the cold war, when conflict between the United States and the former U. S.S.R. dominated Western method to conflict. Conflict was viewed as a win-lose solution. According to Dana (2001) there are only three ways to resolve any conflict; power contests, rights contests, and interest’s reconciliation. Power contest is based on Coser’s (1967) win-lose situation. Each party views their point as right each wanting power over the other. Rights contest is an orderly system which has rules, regulations, policies, precedents and a hierarchy of authority which is used in order to â€Å"win† again this model is a win-lose resolution. The solution to conflict resolution is interest reconciliation. This approach enlists support from both parties to find the best solution. All parties win with interest reconciliation model as their solution. Conflict in the workplace is a condition between or among two or more workers whose jobs are independent, who feel angry, who perceive the other(s) as being at fault, and act in a way that causes a business problem. Conflict has three elements feelings (emotions), perceptions (thoughts) and actions (behaviors). â€Å"Psychologists consider these three the only dimensions of human experience. So, conflict is rooted in all parts of the human nature† (Dana, 2001, p. 5) some confuse conflict with indecision, disagreement, stress, or some other common experience that may cause or be caused by a conflict. However, those elements are not best handled by conflict resolution. The question many ask, is conflict normal? Conflict is a fact of any organizational life. On the job, conflict is a stubborn fact of organizational life (Kolb and Putnam, 1992, p. 311). Rather than seeing conflict as abnormal, Pondy (1992) suggests we view organizations as arenas for staging conflicts, and managers as both fight promoters who organize bouts and as referees who regulate them (p. 259). In addition, Pondy states that in the company, agency, or small business, conflict may be the very essence of what the organization is about, and if conflict isnt happening then the organization has no reason for being (p. 259). One study surveyed workers and found that almost 85 percent reported conflicts at work (Volkema and Bergmann 1989). With an increasing awareness of cultural diversity and gender equity issues, it is essential that employees become familiar with issues surrounding promotions and harassment. In fact, one can see training in organizations as a form of preventive conflict management (Hathaway, 1995). The recognition of the frequency of conflict at work has led to books on mediating conflict in the workplace (Yarbrough and Wilmot 1995), showing how managers can learn conflict management skills to intervene in disputes in their organization. As employees, daily work with clients, customers, co-workers, or bosses can be a struggle. Conflict is as Wilmot (1995) wrote, What determines the course of a relationship . . . is in a large measure determined by how successfully the participants move through conflict episodes (p. 95). Conflict resolution has five styles, giving in, avoiding, fight it out, comprise, and work together style. No style is right or wrong; however some do work better than others. Accommodation, giving in to the others wishes or smoothing waves sacrifices ones own goals for the sake of the other person. Accommodators often use phrases like: Whatever you want is fine with me. When one party in a conflict genuinely does not care about the outcome of the conflict, accommodation may be the right choice for that situation. However, if accommodation is the only style a person utilizes, he or she is advised to learn more skills. Avoidance is characterized by behaviors that either ignore or refuse to engage in the conflict. While avoidance is by some consider a negative style that shows low concern for both ones own and the other partys interests, there are sometimes strategic reasons to avoid conflict. For example, when the relationship is short-term and the issue is not important or when the situation has a potential to escalate to violence, avoidance may be the prudent choice. Fight it out, competition, or win/lose, style maximizes reaching ones own goals or getting the problem solved at the cost of the others goals or feelings. While always choosing competition has negative repercussions for relationships, businesses and cultures, it can occasionally be the right style to choose if the other party is firmly fixed in a competitive style or there are limited resources. While competitive strategy is not necessarily dysfunctional, competition can easily slip into a destructive situation. Understanding the methods and strategies of others who use competitive styles can assist conflict managers in neutralizing the negative consequences of competition and work toward a mutual gain approach. Compromise is a give and take of resources. The classic compromise in negotiating is to split the difference between two positions. While there is no victor from compromise, each person also fails to achieve her or his original goal. Finally, working together to collaborate is when parties cooperatively team up until a mutually agreeable solution is found. Compromise and collaboration are win-win solution where as the other styles are win-lose. Why do people avoid dealing with conflict? People have a natural instinct of fear and some let that fear overpower them. The fear of harm causes people to fight-or-flight. Individuals will choose the flight option when in a dangerous part of a city that they have never been in before in order to avoid danger, it shows wisdom or strength to get out a of physically abusive relationship, commendable to stay out emotionally abusive relationships. In spite of this, in some cases people have the response to flight to a false perception of harm. People overstress in their minds the emotional h arm that someone can cause harm. The same is said for conflict in the workplace, people will avoid conflict for fear of being harmed by others. Some avoid conflict because of a fear of rejection from others. These individuals feel others will withdraw their friendship or push them away causing more hurt. People have the perception if they do not risk rejection they can suppress their needs and feelings. Loss of relationship is the fear of rejection taken up a level they fear totally losing a relationship. Others avoid conflict to mask their true desires because preserving a relationship is more important than getting what they want. These individuals are trapped into believing their worth is dependant on another accepting them. People avoid conflict for fear of anger. These people do not like listening to someone who is angry. They believe another will hurt them, reject them, or leave them, and they just cannot stand to witness anger. However, anger is just anger and it is not necessarily directed toward them. Individuals do not want to be seen as selfish. In some situations people are not afraid of others reactions, but rather their interpretation of the situation. They fear that they will appear selfish. However, is it wrong to have a need, feeling, or want and to express it? Society has sometimes had it seem that way. Although, there is nothing wrong with asking for what individuals want versus feeling they are entitled to always getting what they want. The truth is if one never asks, then they are depriving people around them from being able give to them effectively. Still, people who feel their wants should not be fulfilled, regardless of what others want, fall into the selfishness category. Sometimes people avoid conflict for fear of saying the wrong thing or something they will regret. Individuals will avoid conflict rather than risk putting â€Å"their foot in their mouth† they contain their anger and frustration which often leads to that which they fear. When people have conflicts in the past that have failed so they avoid future conflict for the fear of failing those too and begin to believe the confrontation is not worth the em otional energy it takes to deal with others. The fear of failing can impact other aspects of ones life. The fear of hurting another is more than just saying the wrong thing. These individuals are extremely sensitive and caring. They would rather hurt themselves than risk hurting another. The fear of success is a fear that most over look. However, it is much like the fear of failure. Some people are afraid to get what they want; they believe they will never get it. These people feel they do not deserve what they want, the consequences of getting of what they want is regret, or the responsibility is more than they need or desire. The fear of intimacy is the most subconscious of the fears. People do not want to share their dreams, desires, and wants with others. They feel they are private and do not want to be exposed. People do not want to appear weak. If resolution involves giving in, avoiding, or compromise they may feel they appear as though they do not have confidence. People do not want the stress of confrontation. They feel it is better to avoid conflict rather than deal with the stress it will cause them in the workplace between co-workers. Our society tends to reward alternative responses to conflict, rather than negotiation. People, who aggressively pursue their needs, competing rather than collaborating, are often satisfied by others who prefer to accommodate. Managers and leaders are often rewarded for their aggressive, controlling approaches to problems, rather than taking a more compassionate approach to issues that may seem less decisive to the public or their staffs. Conflict resolution requires profound courage on the part of all parties: It takes courage to honestly and clearly express one’s needs, and it takes courage to sit down and listen to one’s adversaries. It takes courage to look at one’s own role in the dispute, and it takes courage to approach others with a sense of empathy, openness and respect for their perspective. Collaborative approaches to conflict management require individuals to engage in the moment of dialogue in thoughtful and meaningful ways, so it is understandable if people tend to avoid such situations until the balance of wisdom tips in favor of negotiation. People have certain perceptions in conflict when dealing with different situations. Culture shapes and frames each individuals interpretation of appropriate behaviors during conflicts. Conflict across cultures, whether across nations or across the diverse cultures within a country, exacerbates the routine difficulties of conflict management (Fry and Bjorkqvist, 1997). There is no clear conclusion about whether men and women actually behave in different ways while conducting conflicts. However, gender stereotypes do affect conflict behaviors when individuals act and react based on stereotypes of how men and women will/should act rather than selecting behaviors appropriate for the individual one is communicating with (Borisoff and Victor, 1997). Parties respond to conflicts on the basis of the knowledge they have about the issue at hand. This includes situation-specific knowledge and general knowledge. The understanding of the knowledge they have can influence the persons willingness to engage in efforts to manage the conflict, either reinforcing confidence to deal with the dilemma or undermining ones willingness to flexibly consider alternatives. The person sharing the message is considered to be the messenger. If the messenger is perceived to be a threat (powerful, scary, unknown, etc.) the message can influence others responses to the overall situation being experienced. For example, if a big scary-looking guy is yelling at people they may respond differently than if a diminutive, calm person would express the same message. Additionally, if the people knew the messenger previously, they might respond differently based upon that prior sense of the person’s credibility. People are more inclined to listen with respect to someone they view more credible than if the message comes from someone who lacks credibility and integrity. Some people have had significant life experiences that continue to influence their perceptions of current situations. These experiences may have left them fearful, lacking trust, and reluctant to take risks. On the other hand, previous experiences may have left them confident, willing to take chances and experience the unknown. Either way, one must acknowledge the role of previous experiences as elements of their perceptual filter in the current dilemma. These factors, along with others, work together to form the perceptual filters through which people experience conflict. As a result, their reactions to the threat and dilemma posed by conflict should be anticipated to include varying understandings of the situation. This also means that they can anticipate that in many conflicts there will be significant misunderstanding of each others perceptions, needs and feelings. These challenges contribute to our emerging sense, during conflict, that the situation is overwhelming and unsolvable. As such, they become critical sources of potential understanding, insight and possibility. How do people respond to conflict? There are three responses to conflict emotional, cognitive and physical responses that are important windows into our experience during conflict, for they frequently tell people more about what is the true source of threat that is perceived; by understanding the thoughts, feelings and behavior to conflict, a better insight into the best potential solution to the situation. Emotional (feelings) are the feelings we experience in conflict, ranging from anger and fear to despair and confusion. Emotional responses are often misunderstood, as people tend to believe that others feel the same as they do. Thus, differing emotional responses are confusing and, at times, threatening. Cognitive (thinking) are our ideas and thoughts about a conflict, often present as inner voices or internal observers in the midst of a situation. Through sub-vocalization (self-talk), people understand these cognitive responses. Physical (behavior) can play an important role in our ability to meet our needs in the conflict. They include heightened stress, bodily tension, increased perspiration, tunnel vision, shallow or accelerated breathing, nausea, and rapid heartbeat. These responses are similar to those we experience in high-anxiety situations, and they may be managed through stress management techniques. Establishing a calmer environment in which emotions can be managed is more likely if the physical response is addressed effectively. Dealing with someone unwilling to negotiate can be difficult for the person who is trying to resolve the conflict. However, the 8 Step Model can be very beneficial, by focusing first on listening to the other person, and seeking to understand the sources of their resistance, the stage can be set for clarifying the conditions he or she requires in order to talk things out. This is not about being right or wrong in the situation, but a practical strategy for getting the other person engaged as a partner in the negotiation process. Another alternative is to focus on things we can do to influence conflicts in the future, rather than putting initial energy into understanding (or solving) problems we have had in the past. By remaining relatively flexible about the agenda taking on topics individuals care about, but not necessarily the most pressing issues – thus, creating an opportunity to reduce the fears associated with resistance. While the conflict may not be able to be truly resolved, some key issues that exist will be managed and will help to prevent the issues from getting worse. Power is an important and complex issue facing anyone seeking a negotiated solution to a conflict. Before negotiating clarify the true sources of power in the room: The boss has position power, associated with the carrots and sticks that come with the role. She or he may also have coercive power, supported by contracts or statute that compels employees to behave in certain ways and do certain tasks associated with the job. Some may have a great deal of expertise power, accumulated from doing your job over a period of time. Either conflict participants may possess normative power, through which they know the lay of the land in their department and, therefore, how to get things done. And either may possess referent power, through which others show respect for the manner in which the employee conducts themselves. Generally, referent power accrues to those who demonstrate a mature willingness to seek collaborative solutions. An impasse is the sense of being stuck. Impasse is the point within a dispute in which the parties are unable to perceive effective solutions. People feel stuck, frustrated, angry, and disillusioned. Therefore, they might either dig their heels in deeper, anchoring themselves in extreme and rigid positions, or they might decide to withdraw from negotiation. Either way, impasse represents a turning point in our efforts to negotiate a solution to the conflict. As such, rather than avoiding or dreading it, impasse should be viewed with calmness, patience, and respect. Multi-party disputes are complex situations, and they require careful attention and persistence. However, the same 8 Step Model can be applied to the disputes. In spite of using the same process expect everything to take a bit longer than if there where only two or three people. Patiently make sure that all points of view are heard, that issues are clarified for all to see, and that all members in the group accept the agreements being negotiated. If there are limits to the groups decision-making power, then it is important to acknowledge those limits and understand how they are perceived by all members of the group. There are many different ideas of the steps for resolution, some claim five steps while others claim six or seven for the purpose of this paper Weeks (1992) eight step resolution style is identified. Step one – Create an Effective Atmosphere Creating the right atmosphere in which the conflict resolution process will take place is very important, yet most overlook its importance. The atmosphere is the frame around the canvas which will be painted the negotiations and building of better relationships (Weeks, 1992). Step two – Clarify Perceptions Perceptions are lenses through which a person sees themselves, others, their relationships, and the situations they encounter. Perceptions have a great influence on behavior of people. Once people perceive something in certain way, even if the perception is wrong, in the mind it is that way, and often base behaviors on that perception (Weeks, 1992). Step three – Focus on the Individual and Shared Needs This step builds on the previous step as needs as the conditions people perceive they cannot do without, those conditions critical to each persons wellbeing and relationships. However, step three focuses more on skills involved in the conflict partnership approach. There are several key points to keep in mind in this step. 1) Needs are the foundation of relationship and are an essential part of that foundation. 2) People sometimes confuse needs with desires. 3) Personal needs in relationships perceived by individuals must allow for respect of the needs or the relationship (Weeks, 1992). Step four – Build Shared Power Power is a part of every relationship. However, the way people perceive and use power is seen frequently as a dirty word. Such as when people use power as means to control or to manipulate some else to get what they want. Although, power is and of itself not corrupt, it is the way in which people use their power and whether they allow such power to corrupt. Developing positive self power through a clear self-image means that we base our perceptions of ourselves not on what others expect of us or want us to be but what we believe to be our own needs, capabilities, priorities and goals (Weeks, 1992, p. 152). Step five – Look to the Future, Then Learn from the Past. All relationships and conflicts have a past, present and future. Resolving conflicts requires dealing with all three. The conflict partnership process encourages the use of positive power to focus on the present-future to learn from the past. The past experiences people face set the landscape for present and future decision making and how relate to others (Weeks, 1992). Step six – Generate Options People have the ability to discover new possibilities in their relationships as well as conflict resolution. However, both are often impaired by the packaged truths and limited vision people hold onto in times of stress, insecurity, and conflict. Generating options breaks through the predetermined restrictions brought into the conflict resolution process. Generating options imparts choices which specific steps to resolve conflicts and enhanced relationship can be agreed upon (Weeks, 1992). Step seven – Develop â€Å"Doables†: the Stepping-stones to Action Doables are the necessary stepping-stones taken along the way to resolve conflict. Doables are explicit acts that stand a good possibility of success, meet some individual and shared need, and depend on positive power, usually shared power to be carried out. Working on and accomplishing some doables can help the conflict partners see more clearly where they need to go. Many conflict partners have changed their preconceived definitions of both the conflict itself and the expected outcome due to the lessons learned and clarified perceptions through working with doables (Weeks, 1992) Step eight – Make Mutual-Benefit Agreements Mutual-benefit agreements are the next step on the pathway to conflict resolution. Conflict resolution agreements must be realistic and effective enough to survive and the potential to develop further as challenges arise in the future. Mutual-benefit agreements replace the need or want for demands, see the others needs, shared goals, and establish a standard wherein power is identified as positive mutual action through which differences can be dealt with constructively (Weeks, 1992). Conclusion Conflict is an unavoidable aspect of everyday life whether it is with family, teachers, students, friends, or an organization. The best approach to resolving conflict is interest reconciliation. It joins both parties of the dispute to find the best solution. In so doing, all parties win. People respond to conflict in three ways emotional (feelings), cognitive (thinking), and physical (behavior). All are important to the conflict experience. They allow a better awareness to best furnish a solution to the situation. An important tactic to conflict resolution is to develop persuasion skills with the ability to clearly explain one’s point of view and to argue for their conclusions and convictions. Week’s Eight-Step Process is a valuable tool in helping people to become more strategic about resolving conflict. References Borisoff, D., and D. A. Victor., (1997). Conflict management: A communication skills approach, 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Conflict, (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conflict Coser, L. A. 1967. Continuities in the study of social conflict. New York: Free Press. Dana, D. (2001). Conflict resolution. New York: Mcgraw-Hill. Fry, D. P., and Bjorkqvist K., (1997). Cultural variation in conflict resolution. Mahwah, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Hathaway, W., (1995). A new way of viewing dispute resolution training. Mediation Quarterly, 13(1), 37-45. doi:10.1002/crq.3900130105 Kolb, D. M., Putnam, L. L. (1992). The Multiple Faces of Conflict in Organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, (3), 311. doi:10.2307/2488478 Pondy, L. R. (1992). Reflections on organizational conflict. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13(3), 257-261. Volkema, R. J., and Bergmann T. J., (1989). Interpersonal conflict at work: an analysis of behavioral responses. Human Relations 42: 757-770. Weeks, D. (1992). The eight essential steps to conflict resolution: preserving relationships at work, at home, and in the community. Los Angeles, J.P. Tarcher; New York: Distributed by St. Martins Press Wilmot, W. W. (1995). Relational communication. New York: McGraw-Hill. Yarbrough, E., and Wilmot W., (1995). Artful mediation: Constructive conflict at work. Boulder, Colo.: Cairns Publishing.

College Education Essay Example for Free

College Education Essay In his essay entitled â€Å"How to Get a College Education†, Jeffrey Hart described the negative effect of Allan Bloom’s book The Closing of the American Mind on his Dartmouth freshman composition course students. These students, Ivy-leaguers and top test scorers, disliked the book’s criticism of their mentality but at the behest of Hart’s impromptu oral quizzing, could not adequately discuss historical figures and events. Although Hart’s freshman class realized the gaps in their education, Hart asks what a real college education is, deplores the advent of specialization, and discusses what does or does not constitute real education. Hart’s concern with education lies with the end result: to produce a citizen. But while Hart gives excellent examples for what subjects he thinks constitute a real education in light of telos, a goal, he implies, rather than specifies, that such an education must cater to proactive, independent thought over ideologically based curriculum and courses. It is through well-rounded, balanced independent thought, Hart argues, that a citizen who can â€Å"recreate his civilization† be made. In the first example, Hart names a curriculum engaged in â€Å"so-called post modernist thought† as something to avoid. It is one of the three â€Å"intellectual fads†, in which the use of the word â€Å"fad† describes a fashionable conduct as enthusiastically followed by a group. This way, Hart indirectly refers to post modernist thought as ideological and lacking in independent thought. The second â€Å"fad† refers to Affirmative Action, which Hart describes as an â€Å"ethos† or â€Å"mentality†. â€Å"Ethos† describes the disposition of a culture or a group, and â€Å"mentality† refers to the set of a person or a group’s mind; and both words conjure a certain blindness that Affirmative Action is supposed to fight. Again, Hart reflects on the dearth of nuance and consideration in such courses. Thirdly, Hart directly mentions ideology when he writes about Marxism, victimology, and identity politics, in which â€Å"scholarly pursuit† is put aside in deference to â€Å"’Studies’ programs†. Hart calls many of these courses â€Å"nonsense† and â€Å"distraction†, but fails to directly write that the single underlying theme of such courses is that because they operate under an ideology, they do not foster free thinking and independent rationality. Hart underlines his position for independent rationality by going on to discuss courses and curricula that he thinks support the end goal of citizenship. Rationality is implied when Hart takes on the subject of requiring a student to know and understanding themes in civilization, a task that maneuvers beyond mere adherence to ideological standards. The student must know his civilization: â€Å".. its important areas of thought, its philosophical and religious controversies, the outline of its history and its major works. The citizen need not know quantum physics, but he should know that it is there and what it means. Once the citizen knows the shape, the narrative, of his civilization, he is able to locate new things — and other civilizations — in relation to it. † By referring to controversies, major works, and narrative, Hart’s stance on education is of well-roundedness, independent thought, and being comfortable on differing sides of issues—a stance not suitable to the ideologically minded. Hart makes connections to Athens and Jerusalem in order to outline how a student may develop her college education. Both Athens and Jerusalem were and are centers of independent thought. Athens refers to the ancient Greek capital in which rational thought, philosophy, and democracy were birthed; it was the birthplace of philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle: Of things useful and necessary only those that are free should be taught, and the young should partake in nothing of a vulgar, mechanical sort or that will render body, soul, or thought unfit for virtue. (Philips 154). Jerusalem, since the reign of Solomon, has been the spiritual capital of three major religions in the world today. Independent thought emerges out of Jerusalem in the guise of Abraham who sought argument with God, and Jesus, who argued and fought with the spiritual leaders priests and scribes, or Pharisees and Sadducees—of his day (Columbia). A student, dynamically engaged with both scientifically rational and enlighteningly spiritual sides, can succeed in mastering themes of his or her civilization with independence of thought rather than subsisting on an ideological track. Such a student would be able to carve for him or herself a true education with a goal of not being simply educated, but a goal of becoming an involved, active citizen of society, and of a civilization. Hart discusses China as a final example to his essay. Hart reminds us that one could consider China, who has lacked the dynamic interaction between science and spirituality, and who is world renowned for its collectivist culture, one in which independent thought is frowned upon. Again, Hart does not directly mention this, but references it with mentioning China with its â€Å"symbols†: Great Wall and Forbidden City. REFERENCES Jerusalem. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2007. Philips, Peter L. The Politics of Aristotle. University of North Carolina Press, 1997

Applying Learning Theory in the Classroom

Applying Learning Theory in the Classroom The two main influential learning approaches are the behaviourist and the cognitive approach to learning theories. This report critically evaluates how learning theories are applied in the 14-19 Applied Science classroom. It examines how behaviourism, although an outdated theory, is still relevant in the modern classroom and is still used in developing the rewards and sanctions policies of the modern school. The impact of Piagets theory of cognitive development is evaluated and what possible difficulties might arise if they were applied exactly as Piaget dictated. The impact of adhering rigorously to Piaget maturational stages is criticised and how it might not be possible to adhere to set ages for progression in a school. Kolb, Vygotsky and Bruners constructivist approaches are compared and shown that, when applied to a motivated class they work as they were originally intended and yet when applied to a more disaffected class, they arent as easily applied. The science classroom is an inherently dangerous place for students to work in (Frost, Turner, 2005, p.168). It is therefore necessary to instil a level of ‘discipline in the students, to ensure they minimize the dangers to themselves and others in the science classroom. It is necessary to ‘condition (Child, 1997, pp.114-121)the students to behave when certain commands are issued. Behaviour theorists believed that the mind was a blank slate ‘tabula rasa and that we could observe the response to stimulus that happened to an organism. Watson thought that a response is more likely to be connected to an environmental event (stimulus), if that stimulus-response is repeated regularly and with a short period of time between them (Child, 1997, p.115). Thorndike showed that the student is less likely to repeat negative stimulus-responses, which therefore means that there will be an increase in the positive stimulus-responses, until a correct response is repeated regularly. The stimulus-response is then reinforced whenever a positive result is produced (Child, 1997, pp.114-121). Skinner made several conclusions from his findings in Operant Conditioning (Child, 1997, pp.119-121). The steps taken in the conditioning process must be small. Regular rewards are required at the early stages, but once the conditioning is reflexive, rewards can be given less regularly. The rewards must come immediately or shortly after a positive response to ensure maximum effectiveness (feedback) (Child, 1997, pp.114-121) When discussing learning theories, its necessary to mention Pavlov due to the importance held in his work, even if it doesnt really directly affect the classroom. Pavlov pioneered the idea of classical conditioning with his famous experiment where he taught dogs to salivate, when a stimulus was applied, just before food was given to them. The dogs eventually associated the ringing of the bell with the arrival of food and salivated in anticipation of the food arriving (Child, 1997, pp.116-118). Pavlovs work does not directly link to teaching in the classroom, but it does apply, in that the students may be conditioned, to have a memory or a response to an event that happens within the classroom environment. During my lessons I tried to implement Watson, Thorndikes and Skinners theory of Operant Conditioning in the classroom to modify the behaviour of the class. The goal was to condition the students to reflexively stop talking when I moved to a certain area of the room; using the theory that the students would repeat behaviour that received a positive response, and not repeat behaviour that received a negative response. I initially started to modify their behaviour by moving to the left of the front desk, holding my hand up and waiting for silence in the same spot, every time I required them to stop talking and listen. Initially it was necessary to ask for silence and remind them that I was waiting to talk. In some cases it was necessary to issue a sanction as per the science departments rules of two warnings, then issuing a detention or keeping them in for part of their break if, if they didnt stop talking quickly enough. If the class stopped talking quickly, they would be rewarded wit h praise and if the lesson had gone well a class reward of a game or competition at the end, if it was appropriate. Positive feedback about performance is said to have a positive effect on future performance. Skinner called it reinforcement; Thorndike called it The Law of Effect (Child, 1997, pp.115-121). McAllister et al. (1969) found that praising students not only acted as a positive reinforcement of behaviour, but that the praise may have also worked by causing peer group pressure in the class to reduce inappropriate behaviour, because the negative behaviour reflected on the class as a whole (McAllister et al., 1969). Banduras Social Learning Theory would say that the students were not only being conditioned to respond to the teacher, but also learning from their peers actions as to what was appropriate behaviour in the classroom (Atherton, 2009) By the end of the six weeks, the students were starting to respond to the successive approximation as described by Skinner (Child, 1997, p.121)positively and required reminding less that I was waiting to talk to them. It was evident that they much preferred the positive response of listening and being allowed to continue with whatever activity I had planned, to the negative response of not listening and receiving a sanction, before continuing with the activity I had planned. It could be said that they were suffering from Learned Helplessness (Atherton, 2009a)and had given up on being able to change the lesson by negative behaviour. Due to the need to provide a safe working environment in the classroom, I also worked on the class responding to the command ‘STOP when they were carrying out laboratory work. The idea being that if ‘STOP was said loudly to the whole class, that they automatically stop what they are doing, stop talking, turn to where the teacher is in the classroom and prepare for instructions that are important or safety related. â€Å"In the early stages of conditioning, continuous reinforcement is needed to establish the Stimulus-Response link.† (Child, 1997, p.119) The difficulties whilst trying to implement these theories was down to the amount of time involved in getting the students responding to the stimulus positively. The theory of being able to reward the students for responding positively and sanction them if they dont isnt appropriate in this situation, due to the serious nature of the command. If the students dont respond to it, it could ultimately end up with dire consequences in an emergency situation. The ‘STOP command in particular was a difficult one to implement due to its infrequent use and the seriousness of its use that was implied to the students. If the command was overused, then it would lose its importance as something serious, but on the other hand if it wasnt practiced enough, the students would not respond appropriately when the command was issued. Another interesting situation that arose was from the attention-monopolising students, in that the more demanding students are prepared to put up with the minor inconvenience of the negative reinforcement if they get the attention time from the teacher. (McAllister et al., 1969) Seeing the students more frequently, I am sure that they could be conditioned quicker and show the innate response more readily than when I was only able to see them a few times a week. Behaviourism is evidently still relevant in the modern school (McQuillan, 1998), even if it is a somewhat outdated theory. Schools still have their sanctions policies based around Operant Conditioning and negative reinforcement with various levels of warnings and detentions in place for negative behaviour. This will remain effective for as long as policy makers allow these sanctions to be used. However, Skinners belief that we are all blank slates and what goes on inside our black boxes (Child, 1997, pp.119-121) when we learn is not important, is not relevant anymore.(Child 1997, pp.113-121) The students I have worked with and taught are all very unique in their personalities and show completely different ways of learning. To say that the learning processes they go through are only related to external stimulus and their response to that stimulus does not correlate with what has been observed in the classroom. Constructivist Theory has played a big part in the current educational environment in schools. Driver and Easley introduced constructivism as it is known now to the science community in 1978. (Solomon, 1994, p.3)They stated what was previously an inaccessible theory for science, accessible to the scientific educational community. The 14-19 classroom allows us to look at how Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development is applied. Piaget observed that children go through four distinct stages of cognitive maturation (Burton, 2001, pp.237-239) Stages of Cognitive Development (Atherton, 2009b) In the 14-19 classroom, according to Piagets theory, all the students have reached the Formal Operational stage of cognitive development and are capable of developing hypothetical situations and understand abstract concepts. Students should be able to apply their understanding of a situation and in theory be able to hypothesise what would happen in a given event. (Child, 1997, pp.191-207) From experience it is clear that not all students reach the Formal Operation stage at the same time and in fact the 11 year and up boundary is not as clear cut as that (Child, 1997, p.202-203). Within my Year 9 KS3 classes the majority of the students were at the Formal Operation stage of development and were capable of taking an abstract idea, such as levers and moment of a force and applying their knowledge and understanding to derive the equation for calculating the moment of a force themselves. A complex operation that required the students to both assimilate and accommodate (Child, 1997, p.192) the new information they were processing, a task which some found difficult, but all were able to eventually complete. With the Year 10 Applied Science class only a small portion of the class were at the point where they could process abstract information or make a hypothesis. Unlike the year nine class they had to be walked through every new concept step by step (Burton, 2001 p241). When they were given the task of hypothesising why something had happened, for example, where did the glowing light from heated calcium carbonate come from, they were unable to comprehend that the glowing was not related to the heating itself, but was actually an endothermic reaction. Even with a step by step explanation and clearly showing how the reaction was occurring, only a small portion of the class were able to assimilate and accommodate the schema. ‘Teaching at middle and upper school level should begin from concrete considerations, building up, where applicable, to more abstract reasoning.'(Child, 1997, p.203). Piagets theory of distinct maturational stages poses an interesting problem for teachers and educational authorities. Should a student be moved into a more advanced class or year because of their age, or should they move up a level when they reach a stage in their learning ability? From experience with the two different classes, its quite apparent that these boundaries are not as clear as Piaget was led to believe. If a school was to teach students based on their stage of cognitive development; how long could a student be held back for, before the age gap between their classmates was too much? Some students may after all never reach the Formal Operations stage. Vygotskys theory says that the childs higher mental processes are developed through the child working with other more knowledgeable persons than themselves.(Kozulin, 2003, p.19). He theorised that there was a Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) that was the boundary between a childs Zone of Actual Performance and their potential level of understanding. The child can access their ZPD with the assistance of a more ‘competent (Kozulin, 2003, p.20) person guiding them.(Chaiklin, 2003, p.43) Vygotskys Social Constructivist theory moved away from the didactic approach of teaching, which often led to students developing their own misconceptions and not being able to apply their scientific knowledge ‘flexibly to new situations (Karpov, 2003, pp.67-73), to a more socially guided, active approach to learning, where students learnt from their teacher, peers and themselves. Kolbs four stage experiential learning cycle, is similar to both Vygotskys theory of a ZPD and Bruners theory of scaffolding the learning. Kolbs cycle builds on the learners concrete experience and goes through three distinct stages, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation, before returning to the now new concrete experience,.(Burton 2001, p.246) Similarly Bruner theorised that students built on their past experiences and that by applying a spiral curriculum, they would able to return to subject areas and build on them when they were more capable of dealing with the more complex areas of the curriculum. He saw the teacher as a guide, leading the student through the learning process by scaffolding their learning with appropriate material and as the student progressed less scaffolding is required.(Burton, 2001, p.241) When applying these theories it is important to be aware that students are all at different stages of learning. Some students have a more advanced understanding, which puts them in a completely different ZPD, concrete experience or stage in their scaffolded learning, to students who have a lower level of understanding. With the KS3 class the students were all in the 5-7 range for target grades, therefore it was a lot easier to plan how they were going to progress in the lesson. A clear understanding of where they were in relation to their ZPD or their concrete knowledge was available and it was therefore a lot clearer, what was required to get them to a new Zone of Actual Performance or to the next stage in Kolbs cycle. They had all reached Piagets formal operation stage and were able to develop their knowledge independently. With the GCSE Applied Science class it wasnt as easy to apply the theories. The students target grades ranged from G-A., therefore ascertaining where their concrete knowledge lay or where they were in their Zone of Actual Performance was quite challenging. Such a large spread of stages meant it was often necessary to take a didactic approach to try and provide a basic foundation level of knowledge for the lower attaining students, so that they could access the lesson. In some cases students were never able to access the lesson due to their complete disaffection from the subject or school in general. Most of the class had not reached the formal operation stage and some struggled in the concrete operational stage at times. A good example being when one of the students struggled with the concept of limestone having nothing to do with the fruit. Finding the middle ground, where the higher attaining students wouldnt be bored waiting for the lower attaining students to get on task or understand what to do was extremely challenging, and at some points, felt completely pointless trying to apply social constructivist theory to the lesson planning with such a wide range of grades in the class was one of the key problems when trying to apply these theories to the lessons. It was however (in retrospect) interesting being able to see two different sides to how social constructivist theory is applied in the classroom. With the higher attaining, less disaffected KS3 students, it was a lot easier to see how the theories could be effectively applied to their lessons, how they benefitted from the teacher acting as a guide and their interest in the lesson meant that they were able to access it and move forward in their learning. It was always clear at which point in the learning process each students was at and what was required to move them onto the next level in the learning cycle. With the more disaffected, lower attaining students, in the GCSE Applied Science class it was so much harder to effectively apply these theories in the lesson. I tried on several occasions to teach lessons where I acted as the guide through their learning process; the students (in theory) would build on their experiential learning and move forward in their knowledge and understanding of the subject. In fact what happened was that the students panicked at the thought of not having the teacher dictating to them each step of the lesson and what they must do. The concrete experience for some was so limited that they were unable to apply it to the lesson and very quickly, if they were not given step by step instructions as to what to do next, they would be off task and cause other students to go off task as well. Therefore it seemed that the behaviourist theory, in particular Skinner, was being followed, as the positive reward was completing the step. Within the GCSE class there were several students who were classed as having Special Educational Needs (SEN), this ranged from Social Emotional Behavioural Difficulties (SEBD) to Dyslexia and Dyspraxia. Since the revised national curriculum was brought in to effect in September 2000, these students have had the right to a place in the classroom alongside students without any SEN.(Peacey, 2001) Students with SEN are to be included in the lessons and not treated as separate entities to the non-SEN students. Effectively inclusion was brought in to ensure that all students had access to exactly the same educational opportunities as other students. Too see inclusion in practice is very different to reading about it on paper though. Within the class the students suffering from Dyslexia and Dyspraxia, worked fairly diligently, and although at times they found it a struggle organising themselves for course work or in taking notes, they caused little disruption to the other students. They had the extra help required and were catered for in examinations and course work; they were effectively being included. The students who were listed as having SEBD on the other hand, would have appeared to an outsider to relish in the opportunity to be able to disrupt learning; they spent more time being removed from the class than learning itself. Yet if their backgrounds were to be looked into, it would be apparent that it was an achievement being in school that day and it was quite understandable that science was not their top priority, when they might not have even had breakfast that morning. Their inclusion in the lesson was negatively impacting on other students who were not on the SEN register and did not need to be specially included into the class to due to disruptive behaviour. This leads to the question ‘When should a student not be included in a classroom?, which at this point in my limited experience, I am unable to answer. In conclusion, behaviourism is still always going to be prominent in the modern school as a way of leading students towards becoming more disciplined and focused in their studies, via the rewards and sanctions policies on which they are based. When applying the cognitive learning theories, it is necessary to be aware that not all of the students are going to be starting at the same level, some may well be significantly below the level of other students and are only grouped together because of their age. Therefore the materials to be taught are not necessarily going to be accessible to all of the class all of the time unless they are developed to be inclusive for all the students, which is the current aim of the government (Peacey, 2001). The only viable option would be to group classes closely by attainment level as opposed to age, which is unlikely to happen. References ATHERTON, J.S., 2009, Learning and Teaching; Social Learning Theory (Bandura), [Online] (Updated Nov. 2009). Available: http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html [12/Dec/2009]. ATHERTON, J.S., 2009a, Learning and Teaching; Behaviourism, [Online] (Updated Nov. 2009). Available: http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/behaviour.htm#operantconditioning [15/Dec/2009]. ATHERTON, J.S., 2009b, Learning and Teaching; Convergent and Divergent Learning [Online] (Updated Nov. 2009). Available: http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/converge.htm [15/Dec/ 2009]. ATHERTON, J.S., 4 November 2009, 2009c-last update, Learning and Teaching; Learned Helplessness, [Online]. Available: http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/learned_helplessness.htm [19/Dec/2009]. ATHERTON, J.S., 2009d, Learning and Teaching; Piagets Developmental Theory [Online, [Online] (Updated Nov. 2009). Available: http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm#Keyideas [19/Dec/2009]. BURTON, D., 2001. Ways Pupils Learn. In: S. CAPEL, M. LEASK and T. TURNER, eds, Learning to Teach in the Secondary School. 3rd edn. London: RoutledgeFalmer, pp. 235-249 CHAIKLIN, S., 2003. The Zone of Proximal Development in Vygotskys Analysis of Learning and Instruction. Vygotskys Educational Theory in Cultural Context. 1st edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 39-64 CHILD, D., 1997. Cognitive Formation and Cognitive Development. Psychology and the Teacher. 6th edn. London: Cassel, pp. 185-213 CHILD, D., 1997. Learning Theory and Practice. Psychology and the Teacher. 6th edn. London: Cassel, pp. 112-151 DYSON, A., FARRELL, P., POLAT, F., HUTCHESON, G. and GALLANNAUGH, F., 2004. Inclusion and Pupil Achievement. 578. Newcastle: University of Newcastle. FROST, J. and TURNER, T., 2005. Planning Practical Work. Learning to Teach Science in the Secondary School. 1st edn. Oxon: RoutledgeFalmer, p. 168 GIEST, H. and LOMPSCHER, J., 2003. Formation of Learning Activity and Theoretical Thinking in Science Teaching. Vygotskys Educational Theory in Cultural Context. 1st edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 267-288 HUITT, W. and HUMMEL, J., 1997, 1997-last update, An Introduction to Operant (instrumental) Conditioning. [Online]. Available: http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/behsys/operant.html [15/Dec/2009]. KARPOV, V.Y., 2003. Vygotskys Doctrine of Scientific Concepts. Vygotskys Educational Theory in Cultural Context. 1st edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 65-82 KOZULIN, A., 2003. Psychological Tools and Mediated Learning. Vygotskys Educational Theory in Cultural Context. 1st edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 15.-38 LEACH, J. and SCOTT, P., 2002. Designing and Evaluating Science Teaching Sequences: An Approach Drawing Upon the Concept of Learning Demand and a Social Constructivist Perspective on Learning. Studies in Science Education, 38(1), pp.115-142 MCALLISTER, L.W., STACHOWIAK, J.G., BAER, D.M. and CONDERMAN, L., 1969. The Application of Operant Conditioning Techniques in a Secondary School Classroom. Journal of Applied Behaviour Analysis, 2(4), 277-285. MCQUILLAN, P.J., 1998. Educational Opportunity in an Urban American High School: A Cultural Analysis. 1st edn. Albany: State University of New York. PEACEY, N., 2001. An Introduction to Inclusion and Special Educational Needs. In: S. CAPEL, M. LEASK and T. TURNER, eds, Learning to Teach in the Secondary School. 3rd edn. London: RoutledgeFalmer, pp. 218-233 SOLOMON, J., 1994. The Rise and Fall of Constructivism. Studies in Science Education, 23(1), pp.1-19 ZEMBYLAS, M., 2005. Three Perspectives on Linking the Cognitive and the Emotional in Science Learning: Conceptual Change, Socio-Constructivism And Postructuralism. Studies in Science Education, 41(1), pp.91-115.

Epic of Beowulf Essay - The Author/Poet of Beowulf -- Epic Beowulf ess

The Author/Poet of Beowulf      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Little is known about the poet who wrote Beowulf; we have only what information we can deduce from logically reasoning from whatever evidence scholars find in the poem itself.    First of all, consistency of style suggests that the poem was written by one person only (Thompson 14). There is no appreciable variation from uniform linguistic and metrical characteristics. Antithesis is a strong feature of the style:â€Å"This tendency to antithesis, frequently verging on paradox, and the constant play of irony are but stylistic manifestations of those movements of the poet’s thought which shape the very stuff of the poem† (Blomfield 58). There is the reference to the burning of Heorot woven into the description of its first glories, and the prediction of family strife while yet all is well in Hrothgar’s court. The writer’s style includes depth and vibrancy, and â€Å"a high degree of abstraction and formalism† (Blomfield 64). There are many digressions in the poem: â€Å"the poet’s digressive, revaluative style† (Tripp 64). The author is omniscient: â€Å"The poet reserves the right to say what people are thinking † (Shippey 39).    Secondly, the employment of several conventional poetic devices suggests that the author was an educated person. Beowulf is distinguished primarily by its heavy use of   allliteration, or the repetition of the initial sounds of words. The Old English poet would â€Å"tie† the two half-lines together by their stressed alliteration (Chickering 4). Each line of poetry ideally contains four principal stresses, two on each side of a strong medial caesura, or pause. â€Å"At least one of the two stressed swords in the first half-line, and usually both of them, begin with the same sound as... ...raki, translated by Jesse L. Byock. New York: Penguin Books, 1998.    Shippey, T.A.. â€Å"The World of the Poem.† In Beowulf – Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.    Tharaud, Barry. â€Å"Anglo-Saxon Language and Traditions in Beowulf.† In Readings on Beowulf, edited by Stephen P. Thompson. San Diego: Greenhaven Press,1998.    Thompson, Stephen P. â€Å"The Beowulf poet and His World.† In Readings on Beowulf, edited by Stephen P. Thompson. San Diego: Greenhaven Press,1998.    Tripp, Raymond P. â€Å"Digressive Revaluation(s).† In Beowulf – Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.    Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000   

Dreams in The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald Essay -- The Great Ga

A dream is an intangible paradise. In the heavenly world of a dream, all hopes are within reach, and time knows no defined direction. To dream is to believe in the existence of the limitless realm. To dream is to be consumed by the passion and beauty of life, for although a dream may never become a reality, the true substance of a dream is its place in the heart. Jay Gatsby is a dreamer. He believes that the future can return him to his past and to his love, Daisy. Time blocks Gatsby’s dream, for Daisy has made Gatsby a mere memory by marrying Tom Buchanan. Tom and Daisy have minor conflicts with time that parallel Gatsby’s principal struggle with time, yet Gatsby’s dream emerges as the distinguishing factor of his conflict. When challenging the natural course of time, a dream, created by the intricate workings of the mind, and a simple memory of the past cannot be attained with the greatness of their origin. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s destruction and t he death of his undying dream are intensified through the magnification of the conflicts found in the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan. By dreaming, Jay Gatsby develops a false world that can never completely capture the grandeur of its original place in time. An attraction exists between Gatsby and the past, for Gatsby’s past holds the source of the dream that molds the individual he becomes. Thus, the beginning of Jay Gatsby is marked by the beginning of his dream when he falls in love with Daisy Fay. "He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God" (Fitzgerald 112). From this moment, Gatsby is forever held captive by his dream of Daisy and their love. Imprison... ... York: Twayne, 1963. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1953. Lehan, Richard. The Great Gatsby: The Limits of Wonder. Ed. Robert Lecker. Boston: Twayne, 1990. Raleigh, John Henry. "F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby: Legendary Bases and Allegorical Significances." F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Arthur Mizener. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1963. 99-103. Steinbrink, Jeffrey. "‘Boats Against the Current’: Morality and the Myth of Renewal in The Great Gatsby." Twentieth-Century Literature 26.2 (Summer 1980): 157-170. Stern, Milton R. The Golden Moment: The Novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1971. â€Å"Thoughts on The Great Gatsby.† Lily In Canada. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 March 2015. http://lilyincanada.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/thoughts-on-the-great-gatsby/

The Sociological and Political Subtleties of Woodstock Essay -- Explor

The Sociological and Political Subtleties of Woodstock The Woodstock festival descended on Bethel, New York promising three days of peace and music. Event organizers anticipated 15,000 people would attend but were overwhelmed by the 300,000 people that flooded this rural area of New York state from August 15 -17, 1969. While these facts are well known and indisputable, the festival itself has proven to be a controversial endeavor. What began as a small business venture was soon brimming with the controversy of an entire decade. It becomes clear when examining the strikingly different accounts of the festival that reactions varied depending on the fundamental values and personal circumstances specific to each observer and to the underlying motives of the historian describing the event. Joel Makower's Woodstock: The Oral History was particularly effective in examining Woodstock as it was experienced by the producers of the festival. The book's approach is atypical in the sense that it spends considerable time addressing exactly why and how the festival came into existence instead of droning on about drug use and mud slides. The ordeal began when John Roberts and Joel Rosenman, wealthy young entrepreneurs, placed an ad in The Wall Street Journal declaring, "Young men with unlimited capital looking for interesting and legitimate business ideas."[1] Michael Lang and Artie Kornfeld, representing only one of the thousands of replies that Roberts and Rosenman received, proposed building a recording studio for musicians in Woodstock, New York.[2] This original idea was obviously modified and resulted in the Woodstock festival as it is known today. The book effectively details everything from the initial catalyst to the re... ...8 August 1969, p. 25. "The Message of History's Biggest Happening," Time, 29 August 1969, 32. Notes [1] Joel Makower, Woodstock: The Oral History (NY: Tilden Press Inc., 1989), 24. [2] Makower, 28-29. [3] Makower, 1. [4] "Amazon.com," search for "Joel Makower". (17 February 2002). [5] Alfonso A. Narvaez, â€Å"Bethel Farmer Call Fair a Plot ‘to Avoid the Law’,† The New York Times, 20 August 1969, p. 37. [6] "Episcopal Archives," (17 February 2002). [7] Michael T. Kaufman, "Generation Gap Bridged as Monticello Residents Aid Courteous Festival Patrons," The New York Times, 18 August 1969, p. 25. [8] Narvaez, 37. [9] "The Message of History's Biggest Happening," Time, 29 August 1969, 32. [10] Time, 32. [11] Time, 33.

Character Orientation

Values In order to make better transformations in life, I believe that change should start from within. I will exercise good values at all times, strive hard to be a better version of myself, will give my best in school, and I will never stop learning and working towards my goals. The little things we do everyday affects our future in big ways so it might as well be good. It's also important that we keep our personal relationship with God strong and intact.And let his blessings and miracles work in our lives. There are things we couldn't avoid in our family like quarrels and disagreements. I am trying to be more patient and I try not to talk when I'm in a bad mood to keep myself from saying cruel things that I don't even mean. Also try to reach out to them after every fight and ignore my pride, and in doing so, I can be at peace with myself too. I admit it's not easy to forgive and forget but my love for my family is greater than any of that.And I believe that everyone should do the same to maintain a healthy relationship with their implies. It's easier to do great things with my friends in school. Everyday makes a huge difference. Thefts all very nurturing and supportive and they can expect me to do the same too. I will also continue to share my talents and teach them the things know. School activities can be very stressful but this is what makes us responsible, clever, disciplined etc. And some Of the essential values we need to succeed in life.I'm not a very social person and I admit that I don t usually go out. Trying to come up with something that will make differences for our community is challenging. But maybe someday I'll be able to support a cause, donate to charities, and use art to inspire and encourage people. For now, I will just prepare myself so that if I'll be given the opportunity to contribute to something that will make great changes for our community, I will surely give it my best.

The Negatives of Technology in the Classroom

Why engineering in the Classroom Is a electronegative For schools and universities, both correct one across set approximatelyd nigh changes with the engineering that is uncommitted. Instead of pupils having to go to the program library to complete their gain, most bum instantly and walk into their schoolroom change with new desktops and laptop computers. With the increase of engine room in most schools, it is almost graceful a necessity for syllabusrooms to provoke up to image engineering for pupils. Students that have been able-bodied to work with laptops ever since elementary school ram so single-valued functiond to the applied science operational that most find it however stock in differentiaterooms today.In the clear uproom it does not abide with the computing devices, now instructors ar having insolent wits make and put into affiliaterooms. only when do these ca apply to be perceived lounge around a immense withs re eithery patron the assimilators learn better? I highly doubt that a sm nontextual matter board in the schoolroom is red ink to wait on a savant want to wages attention to other boring lecture of few snatch of clock in our history. Frankly, that smart board is tout ensemble exactly making the teachers job easier. Or is it? What if that teacher or professor is a flyspeck older than some of us? mortal who is not wasting diseased to having the high amounts of technology in todays classrooms whitethorn not bonk how to work that smart board. All that does is waste season. The uniform give the gate go for students who grew up in disordered income atomic number 18as who are not used to workings with computers. While others in the classroom are busy typing a paper, this student is probably sitting in the moxie wondering how to change his font. The fact is alike a great deal technology in the classroom can cause negatives for both the student and teacher in many ways. compute an Englis h class move in to their room make full with new laptops.Everyone sits atomic pile and waits for the teacher. The teacher comes in and tells them to continue work on their paper. Unfortunately one student in there is utilise this sacred scripture program for the first time. While his peers are busy writing their papers, he is serene trying to figure out how to keep up his document. My first get a want with technology in the classroom is that it takes away from valuable discipline time. While this student could be starting time his paper, he must be support by his teacher multiple measure during class for his technical issues.Not everyone in a classroom may have had the chance that most students have had of growing up with computers in the classroom. Everyone comes in at a different skill level which makes it intemperately for students to actually learn something on a slighton based on using the computer. The same can be for the teacher. Not all teachers are used to t he new technology in classrooms today. When it comes time for a lesson to be taught through using a computer and the teacher doesnt in time know how to load the document motifed, it right stimulates senseless time for the students.A teacher who posted his fuck about new technology on A Novel Idea writes I looked d have at my iPad and it had gone dark. So I slid my finger across the brass section of the tablet to wake up the assort, thusly punched in my password, then flipped through the electronic pages until I found the place where I left off. This was not only distracting to the kids, but it also added frustration to the problem, making me vehement in front of a campaign (A Novel Idea). This teacher shared his experience of new technology being brought into the class and how it took away from the valuable learning time that was visible(prenominal).Instead of technology being a dower of the curriculum in schools, it is now becoming the center of attention. My second re ason for the negatives of technology in the classroom is the apply of it. some(prenominal) students learn best by physically and mentally interacting with what they are studying. If most inform is done using a computer, these students inevitably are not being met. For example, a class could be playing a review wager for maths using PowerPoint. The teacher would have the problems on the board dapple the students race to answer it. save what about some of the students who have really struggled this social class in math, this review is indolent for them because they cannot even figure out how to solve the problem. Also, while the teacher is busy changing the problems it is sticky for the student who is struggling to ask for function because that takes away from the lesson plan for that class. The issue with overuse is that overtime it will just become boring for students who are excelling in that grouchy class, and seem like a pointless strategy for students who are strugg ling.Charlene Kamper states in her condition of the overuse of technology that With information and answers just a click away, todays teens are falling short when it comes to deductive reasoning and problem-solving on their own (Kamper). The availability of technology causes students to not be able to learn information on their own but be able to eccentric person something into Google and find the answer. In a class where the lesson for today is researching topics for the next research paper, some students will take advantage of that time in class.However, some students will use this time to get and twitter and pressure about how English class is spunky (in 160 characters or less of course). confusion in a technology filled classroom is a huge issue. In some classes where the teacher gives the students the freedom to get on the computers and research, some will convolute it and just go web surfing. This issue does not just apply to the mall and high school levels, even in el ementary. In Matt Richtels condition about technology in the class room, he writes about a unripe student playing a math game.He writes Xavier Diaz, 6, sits quietly, chair pulled close to his dell laptop playing Alien AdditionXaviers goal is to shoot only the spaceship with the correct answer but he is just shooting every rank in sight (Richtel). While this math game is supposed to be support Xavier improve his math skills, he just sees it as other video game he would play at home. Its hard to stop the distractions with technology accessible in most classes. Imagine walking into history class. Its just another average day. You sit down, say hey to some of your friends and possibly send out a tweet.Then your teacher pulls up a PowerPoint. You automatically know that your teacher is going to be reading off the PowerPoint for the whole class and its just going to be another period of taking long notes. My final issue with technology in the class room is the misuse of it. PowerPo int works best for things that are presented visually, not verbally. It assists when you need to draw a picture (Kaminski). too many teachers today use PowerPoint as a verbal aid for lectures. The use of PowerPoint is best used as a visual aid in the classroom setting.For years students have had to deal with the long PowerPoints with the endless notes. How do these long PowerPoints dish out students? The only thing that it does is that it will help cause arthritis in your wrist forrader age fifty. Also, these long PowerPoints just make students not wanting to pay attention. These students are unable to play an fighting(a) role in their education. Then when a teacher complains and how the students are unresponsive and unwilled to participate, that teacher needs to look in the mirror along with their teaching strategies.Jeffrey new-fangled states in his article When Good engineering Means Bad Teaching Colleges have spent millions on smart classrooms jammed with the latest gadg ets to assist teachingBut colleges have spent far less time and capital giving professors the skills to use even the simplest technology effectively (Young). Colleges and schools can spend as much money as they want for state of the art classes, but if you dont have an instructor that knows how to use that technology available it just becomes a waste of money. Also, it becomes the students that start the most. In todays world, technology is going to be improving all the time.No matter what schools are going to be updating the technology available for students. Now, it is serious for the libraries to be up to date with the computers available because that is a useful are for students to help complete work when they want too. But at some point, we must put up the stop sign with how much technology is integrated in the classroom. cardinal minutes without a computer screen in front of you is not going to kill us. But instead could help us. While we do need technology in our everyday lives, we do not need excessive amounts in our classrooms.